Thomas & Hutton Earns National Award for Solar Farm Project
Press release from the issuing company
Tuesday, March 17th, 2015
Thomas & Hutton of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 49th annual Engineering Excellence Awards for the Colleton County Solar Farm project in Walterboro, S.C.
The first solar facility in South Carolina, the Colleton County Solar Farm helps communities assess options for leveraging solar energy to meet long-term power needs. Consisting of more than 10,000 solar modules equipped with both fixed-tile and single-axis photovoltaic panels, the 14-acre farm produces three megawatts of electricity—enough to power approximately 300 single-family homes. After 12 months of operation, the total energy generated at the farm equaled more than 392,000 gallons of gas, and saved more than 3,400 tons of carbon dioxide.
The project is among 170 engineering projects throughout the nation and around the world recognized by ACEC as preeminent engineering achievements and eligible for one of the top 2015 Engineering Excellence Awards. Judging for the Engineering Excellence Awards—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”—took place in February and was conducted by a panel of more than 30 engineers, architects, government officials, media members, and academics. Awards criteria include uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, complexity, and success in meeting goals.
Final winners, including 16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement, will be announced at the Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, a black-tie event to be held Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.